Pretty damned impressive. From a presentational point of view, there is no
other way to describe Alex Salmond's launch of the SNP manifesto in Glasgow
yesterday, writes Alan Cochrane.

It was better than the Tories' effort, but only just, and, after all, they don't have a cat in hell's chance of winning on May 5. Compared with the Lib Dems', it was as different as night from day.

But much, much more importantly, it was so much better than Labour's.

Even allowing for the monsoon and the fire alarm that attended Iain Gray's effort, yesterday at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama was a class apart from Clydebank College. This is not to denigrate the latter establishment. It is just that in modern politics, presentation and "this vision thing" are so important.

And in those respects, the SNP leader won hands down.

The venue could not have been more appropriate. Alex Salmond is every inch a master of the dramatic. Not in the style of Harold Macmillan, the great actor/manager of British politics. No, Mr Salmond is more a showman in the Barnum and Bailey mould. He even left them gasping for more yesterday when he hinted at a major inward investment deal but refused to reveal the details.

A great deal of thought clearly went into the Nats' production, whereas the Labour equivalent was so homespun it might have been worked out on one of Iain Gray's fag packets.

While Labour would argue that its manifesto launch was a genuine grassroots affair, the Nat show looked typical of an administration in waiting, or of a group of ministers merely having a breather before getting back to the serious business of governing.

That is increasingly the problem for Labour. The SNP looks slicker, appears more confident and is ahead in the personality stakes. For its part, all Labour appears to offer is the dogged determination of Iain Gray. That and the habitual inclination of most Scots to vote Labour, as they did in impressive numbers in last year's general election.

At first glance, that does not seem like much. But SNP strategists know it is a combination that may yet work against them – hence their determination to present this election as merely the second part, or continuation, of a long-running show.

Their theme of "Re-elect" is emphasised again and again. When people challenge their figures for all manner of freebies on offer – prescriptions, tuition fees, bus passes, eye tests, etc, the Nats insist: "You don't have to look into the crystal ball, just read the book!"

Or as Mr Salmond would have it – the SNP's record in government should be good enough to convince the doubters that he and his team will honour the promises they are giving for the next five years. On that, they are most definitely in trouble. They never come close to telling us which 84 of their alleged 94 promises from 2007 have been honoured.

As Murdoch Fraser, the deputy Tory leader, said, the SNP has not cut class sizes for primaries 1-3 to 18, nor given every child two hours of PE a week. They did not introduce local income tax and, most significantly, they failed to hold an independence referendum. On the last item, Mr Salmond says it is coming in the next parliament. But he said that last time. Despite shifting the deadline several times, it never happened.

However, the biggest broken promise from the SNP was its pledge to spend £2 billion in wiping out student debt. I never thought the Nats would get around to that. The promise of generating all of Scotland's electricity from renewable energy sources within nine years is just as much pie in the sky.

Mr Salmond is also hopelessly wrong on the size of the coming funding gap between Scotland's and England's universities – it is probably three times higher than he says.

Hoping to fund everything, including his extended council tax freeze, through massive public sector efficiency savings – totalling more than £3 billion – is more a case of wishing and hoping than serious economic management.

John Swinney may be a good Finance Minister. But he is no magician.

Still, the momentum seems to be with the Nats at present. Labour has it all to do.